Freedom
by David Shigure
Summary: A ninja who's past she'd much rather forget. Her future looks uncertain. The only person she can trust is a guy she met on the battlefield. Is he the one that will set her free? Is he the one who will let her forget her past, and solve her future?


I hope you enjoy my first foray into the Naruto world. This is a Tayuya/Shikamaru pairing. Hopefully I'll be able to move on with Naruto/Hinata after this one.

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'Freedom'

Chapter 1: Wish

A kunai buried itself next to his ear onto the tree he was currently leaning against. "Crap." Shikamaru Nara cursed, jumping swiftly onto another tree, trying to make himself invisible to the angry kunoichi chasing after him. "Stop running, you damn rat." Tayuya jumped after him, her eyes blazing with fury. She landed on the branch he had just been standing at moments ago. "Where the hell is he!?" She growled, scanning the trees around her frantically.

Shikamaru had hidden himself in a bush, and watched as she pulled out her flute, bringing it to her lips. "Damn, not that stupid flute again." He groaned mentally.

"I don't like using kunai, or normal weapons. Not like any other shinobi." Tayuya spoke softly, knowing that he could still hear her. She gently caressed her flute, the shiny, silver surface reflecting the sun. "Normal weapons... they kill violently, and despairingly." She continued, still scanning the trees around her. Her red hair fluttered softly in the breeze, her dark brown eyes glinting. "I like using my flute. I like the melodies I can produce from such a simple instrument. Soft, fluttering notes, carried by the wind around me." She played a short tune as though to emphasize the effect. The notes hung hauntingly, filled with the same despair she had been talking about moments ago. "I like to lull my enemy towards their inevitable death. It's the least I can do to make their deaths a little more peaceful. By playing their final lullaby." She smirked, raising the flute to her lips. She began playing a soft tune, which seemed to echo around the trees.

The song reminded him of loneliness. The notes seem to flow right through him, tugging at his heart. It was slowly filling him with despair. She continued playing, her eyes closed. Her crimson red hair twirled around her as she moved slowly with the song.

He looked over her face,watching her playing. A second later, his mouth dropped open as he watched a silent tear trickle down her face. The song seemed to be portraying her emotions.

After a while, the song reached its conclusion. Tayuya dropped her hand to her side, looking down at her feet. "This flute is all I have." She murmured numbly. "Its been with me for as long as I can remember. It's a part of me, I couldn't live without." She looked up at the trees. "Its all that I live for. The only thing keeping me alive, is the sound of my own song."

"It sounds like you don't live for very much then." He dropped out of the bush he had been sitting in, landing on a branch a few metres away from her. "What did you say!?" She whirled around to face him. He looked back, staring blankly into her eyes. "I said, it sounds like you don't live for very much then." He repeated.

She balled her hands into fists, her face contorted with fury. "You bastard!" The comment had hurt. The fact that he had rammed home the truth hurt even more. He continued to stare calmly at her. "What is it that you fight for?" He asked softly.

She stared at him, the question catching her off guard. "What do I... fight for?" She repeated the words that sounded odd in her mind. What was it that she fought for?

Was it for Lord Orochimaru? Was she loyal to him? No, Orochimaru had given her a home, and food and everything. But in the end, he had just used her. Another one of his horrible experiments, nothing more.

So what was it then? Was it Kimimaro? Had he frightened her into being loyal to him? Probably, yes. He had effortlessly beaten her in combat before, and he could do it again. But recently, his body had become extremely weak. He wasn't as powerful as he used to be...

"I fight to live." She said slowly. Shikamaru glanced at her, surprised. "I fight to survive, day in, day out. Its the only way I've ever known to live." She looked puzzled, as though she was trying to figure it out in her mind. Shikamaru sighed. "It must get troublesome, right?" She nodded absent-mindedly, the battle long forgotten from her mind. Suddenly, she looked up. "Why are you asking me this?" She questioned furiously. "Its got nothing to do with you!" She was getting angry again. He sighed, shaking his head. "Listen, I don't want to fight a girl I'm not supposed to be fighting. I don't like fighting girls, and I don't really like the fighting bit either. Its just too troublesome for somebody like me." He looked hard at her, as though trying to read her mind.

"What are you staring at?" Her anger was rising. His soft eyes were staring straight into hers. Emotionless, almost dead. Shikamaru shook his head and sighed. "We fight for the same reason. To stay alive." His eyes returned back to her own. "But I want to stay alive because of what I've got back home to return to."  
His words brought out a sliver of envy in her. He probably had a family, even friends to return home to. He probably even had a special girl waiting for him to come back to her.  
As for her, she didn't have any of that. Her friends, her family... She could barely call the Sound Four her friends, and her family were long gone. It was just like she had just said. It was for herself, and her flute. To listen to the melody of her own sorrow.  
She could feel tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. Her pride kicked in and she bit them back, getting angry all over again. "So what!? I don't need a home to go back to! I've lived most of my life alone, on the road. What difference does it make?" She put the flute to her lips. "I'm still going to kill you. Then you won't have a home to go back to."

In the blink of an eye, Shikamaru had rushed behind her as she momentarily closed her eyes, preparing her flute. With a kunai up against her throat, he sighed in her ear. "It makes all the difference in the world. Not having friends around you, not having a family to look out for you as you grow. Without that kind of an influence, the only kind of people that are born from that kind of lifestyle are the ones who have it the hardest in life."

Tayuya let slip a quiet gasp. "Like you know anything about it! What the hell do you know!" She grabbed onto the arm holding the kunai. "...the hell... you know anyway..." Silent sobs began running down her face. Her face contorted. "You don't know anything!" She screamed. The echo raced around the forest, alerting the birds around them.

She collapsed onto the branch they had been standing on, which was wide enough to fit at least ten ninja on comfortably. Shikamaru let the hand holding the kunai drift to his side, keeping it close. Tayuya was on her hands and knees, silent tears running down her face. She didn't care if her opponent finished her now. It would be a blessing to her.  
But he just stood there behind her. Not making a sound. She turned to face him, anger still there in her eyes. Just not as intensely as before. "What's your name?" She asked quietly. Her eyes locked onto his, lowering his guard a little. "Shikamaru." He replied, responding with the same, emotionless look in his eyes. She sighed, shrugging her shoulders, moving so that she could sit cross-legged. "I'm Tayuya, of the Sound Four." She said the last past bitterly. "I'm guessing that you don't have much love for your team mates then." Shikamaru sat down opposite her. He preferred not fighting this girl. It was better than jumping off trees and throwing sharp things at each other.  
"Team mates." She spat. "They'd much rather throw me in the lion's den, they're a bunch of bastards." Her fists were clenched. She took in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Mentally, she laughed. If only Sakon and the others could see what she was doing now. Talking to an enemy. Betraying the same bastards that had put her through hell ever since Orochimaru has recruited her.

"_Betraying...Now that doesn't sound like such a bad idea..." _Tayuya thought to herself. "_Now's the perfect opportunity to leave those bastards behind, and start again..." _She looked up at Shikamaru, her eyes still wet from crying. Even through the red eyes and the tears down her face, he thought she looked cute. There was just something in her eyes that made it difficult to look away.  
"Shikamaru..." She began, her voice small and quiet. "I never had friends, or a family. Orochimaru took me in, a street rat wandering dark, war torn villages. At first, I thought it was a blessing from the gods. But all he did was use me." She wiped her eyes slowly. Looking back at him, she continued. "The 'Sound Four' were supposed to be my allies, my team mates. The kind of people you can call of for help and know for sure they'd come with fire in their eyes."  
"But they never did. They always left me to survive on my own. The lot of them, heartless bastards." She growled.

"I don't want to go back to them. I never want to see them again." Her eyes looked desperate, her voice was beginning to go hysterical. "Shikamaru, I've got to ask you for a favour, even if I am supposed to be your enemy." Her hands clenched even tighter. "What is it?" Shikamaru spoke softly. He had listened patiently through Tayuya's brief story. He pitied her, and was glad they both felt the same way about Orochimaru. She looked into his yes balefully. "Would you... would you take me away?"

His mouth dropped open. "You what?" He was sure he had heard right. It sounded like she wanted him to take her back to Konoha with him. "You've gotta be kidding..." He said quietly. "Do you have any idea how much trouble I'll get into if I bring you back?"  
Her head drooped. "So does that mean you won't?" Tears began to form again. "um..." He didn't know what to say. "It's not like I don't want to. It's just that I can't." He tried to explain. He scratched the back of his head. This was getting troublesome.  
"But what if you made it look as though you had taken me out?" Tayuya suddenly sounded excited again. A fresh new idea had developed in her mind. "Bring me back as a prisoner." Her heart sank as Shikamaru began shaking her head. "They'll wonder why I didn't just leave you alone, instead of dragging you the whole way back..."

"But what if I was to co-operate with you guys? Give you info on Orochimaru and stuff like that? I'm sure that'll work!" She cut in. She was sure this would work. She had no issues spilling the beans on her former 'comrades'. They could go to hell as far as she was concerned.  
Shikamaru pondered the idea. It sounded like it was worth a shot. Just for one thing...  
"How do I know that I can trust you?" He murmured quietly. "Not ten minutes ago we were at each other's throats." The reality of that seemed a lot harsher than what she seemed to be like now. "We'll make a blood pact." She said slowly. "But first, I know you have that shadow possession technique of yours, so use that on me. I won't resist."  
He couldn't think of anything else, so he ran through the hand signs for the jutsu. "Shadow Possession Jutsu." His shadow extended so that it connected with Tayuya's. "Good." A faint smile was etched onto her worn face. "Now, you know how the blood pact works right? You draw blood from your hand using your kunai. Then you swear on the blood taken from the body. Then I'll do the same, which is why I let you use your jutsu, so that I won't be able to trick you or anything, see?" He had to admit, it seemed as though she really wanted this to work. "And finally." She continued. "We shake hands at the end, mingling the blood, turning the promise into a pact, sealed with blood." Shikamaru nodded. Blood pacts weren't unheard of in Konoha. They were used as a way to convey an almost ultimate form of trust between ninja.

He drew his kunai, slicing his palm. "I swear I'll take you back to Konoha with me, and protect you along the way." Manipulating his shadow possession technique, he passed the kunai over to Tayuya, who did the same with her palm. "I swear to go back to Konoha with you voluntarily, with no tricks or otherwise. And you can even hold onto my flute." She winked as she handed back the kunai. Shikamaru nodded.

"Now, lets shake on it." Tayuya extended her hand to his own. Shikamaru took it, sealing the pact between them. "I owe you one for this. I'll never forget it, I swear." She still held onto his hand. He nodded, releasing his jutsu on the girl. "And here you go." She produced her flute from behind her. She held it in her bleeding palm towards Shikamaru. "Take it, and be careful with it!" She warned. "That flute is all I have left of my past. Don't break it." Shikamaru nodded slowly. "I'll take care of it, I promise."  
"First off though, I'm going to have to regroup with the rest of my squad, and tell them that I've got a prisoner to take back home." He produced a length of black cloth. "I've gotta bind your hands, so as to make it look like your restrained." She looked at the cloth, disgruntled. "ugh, if I have to." She twirled around, her soft, crimson hair dancing behind her. She held out her hands behind her. "Just not too tight, okay? Some guards back home I know like to be arseholes and tighten cuffs to the point the blood never gets to your hands."  
"Got it." He tied the cloth around, tying it tight enough so that she couldn't break out of it, but not so tight that it hurt. "Is that okay?" He saw her nod. "Thank you." She turned around to face him again. "Now... I've got another favour to ask." She smiled slyly. He didn't like the look on her face. "What is it?" He droned. She giggled softly. "I won't be able to jump with this on my arms, so could you carry me? I promise I'm not too heavy." She winked.  
Shikamaru sighed. "_She's enjoying this." _He nodded softly. "Fine. Just don't move around too much." He quickly swept her off her feet, causing her to gasp. "Careful, idiot!" She blew a strand of crimson hair from her face. "Sorry." He sighed. This was not what he had expected when Tsunade had given him this mission. He wondered how she would react to his 'prisoner'.  
His thoughts disappeared as he felt Tayuya lean her head against his chest. "Let's go, Shikamaru. I want to leave this life behind as fast as I can." She relaxed against him, closing her eyes. Shikamaru nodded once, and leapt off the tree branch, to where he had left Neji and Choji behind.

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I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. It took a while to write, but hey, its done. Please review, it always makes a good day great.


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